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    I've Got You
    I've Got You
    I've Got You
    Ebook104 pages1 hour

    I've Got You

    By Hollis Shiloh

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    About this ebook

    Newly divorced (and laid off), Charlie Wise is ready for change. He's finally ready to face the fact that he's gay. But he's also almost forty, and putting himself out there with guys is really scary. He's thinking of throwing himself into his new career instead.

     

    That is, until he meets Daniel Braith. What's supposed to be an interview becomes something more. This fascinating man, who builds tiny cabins with his bare hands, lives in the forest, and can sing like an angel, also happens to be gay. And possibly the perfect person to introduce Charlie to what he's been missing out on all these years.

     

    That is, as long as neither one of them ends up risking his heart...

     

     

    ~25,000 words

    Low/medium heat

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSpare Words Press
    Release dateAug 7, 2020
    ISBN9781393369554
    I've Got You

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      Book preview

      I've Got You - Hollis Shiloh

      Chapter 1

      Some people would say he was too old for a midlife crisis.  Most wouldn't, if they knew he was thirty-nine, not the vaguely mid-twenties look he was fortunate enough to be able to portray on TV.

      Well, at least he had been, up until he was laid off from his job as a weatherman.  Now he was trying to make it on his own—traveling around the country, filming different offbeat and unusual homes, mostly related to cute and quirky little houses, although he was hoping to get into even more unusual stuff at some point, if the sponsorships rolled in.

      He'd always wanted to make some videos on his own, enjoying the process of tweaking and producing and editing as much as he did being in front of the camera.  But it had never worked out before; he'd had a full time job, and enough to keep him busy.  Now, there was little else to do.  Nobody was hankering to hire a new weatherman—and he was ready to try being his own boss. 

      Right now, the show was going up on YouTube.  He only had a few videos up so far, but was hopeful about the channel he was creating.  If it did well enough, he hoped to sell the rights elsewhere.  All of it sounded great, like he had a serious plan and was going to make it work.  But most of all, it was an act of desperation.  After the divorce, after losing his job, this was a way to start fresh.

      Spending a week in a tiny home was going to be amazing.  It was both a chance to film for his channel and to get away from things for a bit. 

      The land here was wild and raw, very close to wilderness, and the builder was only just starting his rental operation.  He lived on site, and the video was largely going to be about him, Charlie hoped.  Human interest was of value in these things, and the guy seemed interesting.

      Or maybe he was just unfairly attractive and Charlie wanted to look at him and talk to him some more.  So far the man had answered questions related to the rental mostly in one syllable words.  Sometimes just in grunts. 

      Daniel was tall, dark-haired, and sported a beard that was simply amazing—full and bushy without being unkempt or overdone.  It was tasteful and, frankly, hot.  Not the hint of roguish scruff Charlie generally found hot (and couldn't seem to grow himself), but a real, full-on, well-kempt beard.  Daniel looked like a hot mountain man. 

      He was—and if Charlie was ever going to start really being honest with himself, now was as good a time as any—almost exactly Charlie's type, when it came to hot guys.  There were even a few tell-tale laugh lines around his face, and he had a glorious golden tan from being outdoors so much. 

      Charlie was a slim and rangy six foot, and he kept in shape at the gym.  That and a careful regimen of diet, skincare, grooming and tailored clothing kept him looking presentable.  He'd had to achieve a certain look for TV: good-looking, but not too pretty.  Masculine, well-spoken, approachable—and definitely not gay.

      It had never been in the job application—better be straight—but it was understood that he needed to conform to the standards set up for weathermen.  Understood, and leaned into eagerly, if he was honest about it.

      He'd been trying so hard to be straight. 

      Dressing and acting the part hadn't done it, and neither had getting married.  Only now, when he was starting to feel ancient, and his wife had divorced him, was he finally reaching the point of acceptance of his actual orientation.

      Becky had decided she didn't want to stay married to someone who wasn't actually attracted to her.  Maybe that had been her midlife crisis.  Or maybe it was just finally facing the stark truth.  And then he'd had to as well.  He was gay, he'd always been gay, and he'd been too scared to deal with any of it for most of his life.

      He'd never been the sort of effortlessly confident and handsome guy Daniel clearly was.  Daniel moved like he knew his body, his strength, his world.  He moved like he knew where he stood in the universe, and appreciated his place in it.  He had hands that could chop down trees, or cradle baby birds in his hands as he put them back up into their nests.  Strong, tanned, big, blunt-fingered hands, with veins from hard work, and the little white notches of old scars.

      Maybe Charlie was being too poetic about those hands. 

      Then there were Daniel's arms.  When he'd rolled up his sleeves, it had taken Charlie's breath away, which was completely unfair.  Nobody should have muscles like that unless they were planning to audition as Thor.  And nobody should get that kind of reaction from Charlie—low, in his belly—even if they were.

      Maybe he was lonelier and more desperate for human companionship than he'd guessed.

      Not that he wanted to drool over the guy.  Of course not.  But it would be nice to get a few words out of him.  Or even get him to agree to be on camera for the episode and answer a few questions.

      Charlie was fascinated by the man, so different from himself.

      Instead of the rugged outdoorsy type, Charlie had grown up a shy little kid with a penchant for television watching.  He'd never missed the news—or the weather. 

      Being a meteorologist had seemed like such a fun and important job, where you could tell people what they could expect from the future.  How to plan for a picnic, or avoid danger on the roads.  How to stay safe and how to have fun.  And the weathermen he'd watched had seemed like such a beacon of respectable handsomeness, like clever, well-groomed, good men—responsible men, who would never walk out on a young wife and infant son.

      Growing up without a father in his life, Charlie had always been looking for role models—father figures—and weathermen had been some of the safest and most comfortable over the years.  Men he could trust, and wanted to be like someday.

      But becoming a weatherman hadn't made him that accepted bastion of masculinity.  It hadn't made him straight.  It had made him neurotic and well-groomed, and able to work in front of a camera...but nothing else.

      Like many things, the idea of it was better than the actuality of it. 

      He wondered if sex with a man would be like that...and if he'd ever find out.

      Not that he needed to be thinking about sex while attempting to interview this tall, bearded stranger. 

      Chapter 2

      Daniel could hardly believe his eyes.  It was him, the hot weatherman. 

      Dan hadn't connected the name of the person who rented one of his cabins with the weatherman.  He wasn't a close enough follower of the guy's work to remember his name precisely, or realize that weatherman Charlie Wise was legally Charles Franklin Wisniewski. 

      He certainly didn't follow much news or weather, but once in a while, he'd tuned in and been amused by the handsome, slightly fussy guy who was so very expressive when he gave the weather report. 

      Sometimes he'd

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